Woman out of Time
by actionman81
Summary: Steve Rogers wants Peggy Carter back, and he might do almost anything to get her back. Almost anything


2011

"You should've left it at the bottom of the ocean" Steve Rogers left Commander Nick Fury standing in the empty weight room.

2014

"Who's the girl?" Natasha Romanova glanced at the framed portraits that hung on the wall. Steve Rogers and she stood in the early, perhaps first, SHIELD headquarters at Camp Lehigh.

2015

"The war's over, Steve" Peggy smiled in Scarlet Witch induced dream, "We can go home now. Imagine it"

2018

New York

"Imagine it" her voice echoed between his ears, "We can go home now" Steve Rogers stared at the compass, or rather, at the photograph inside the compass lid.  
"What I wouldn't give to bring her back" Steve sighed, and stared out of the transparent window pane. The sky seemed almost too blue, too bright, for him to bear just then. He shut the compass and slipped it back into his desk drawer  
The drawer slid back with a click  
Steve remembered something, not from the 1940s, but from a scant seven years ago  
"Hydra's secret weapon" he'd explained to Nick Fury, after looking at SHIELD's file on the Tesseract,  
"We think the Tesseract could be the key to unlimited sustainable energy" Fury informed Steve, "That's something the world sorely needs"  
The Tesseract was now in Asgard, finally, thanks to Thor and the Avengers, but a day didn't go by that Steve was reminded of the power that the cube had – and did- and does – wielded. Limitless energy was only one of its capabilities. There were far more, and Steve had seen the lengths that man had gone to try to harness it.  
Superior strength, speed, perhaps even other powers, and yet even with everything he could do, the one thing he'd never been able to was bring her back, after all this time. Steve placed his hand on the drawer handle, but didn't move.  
No, this was no longer the time for thought. No, now was the time for action.

1948

New York

"I feel kind of silly doing this" Daniel Sousa fumbled with the ring in his coat pocket  
"Nonsense" Angie Martinelli gave him a quick, yet friendly, shove towards the door, "Every girl wants to get swept off their feet like this"  
"But, we've practically said—"  
Angie cut him off, "I know, but just humor her, will ya?"  
Daniel took a step through the threshold, "Here goes" he plastered a grin on his face

2018

"Amazing" Tony Stark grinned  
"Incredible" Bruce Banner agreed  
The two men stared at the glowing orb  
"I do wonder if it might be time to relax, gentlemen" Vision spoke quietly  
"Yeah, good idea" Tony nodded, and pulled the goggles off his face  
Bruce did the same and followed Tony and Vision out of the lab  
"If I am correct," Vision continued, "you'd like a beverage"  
"Sure" Tony nodded, "Give me a Scotch. I'm starving."

Steve wasn't used to this. No, not the surveillance, but the fact that he was sneaking around his friends. These people were like brothers to him, for the most part. He saw that the three men had taken the lift back down, probably so Tony could head straight to the wet bar  
He slipped into the lab. Thankfully, whatever sensors were in place weren't buzzing or ringing or whatever it was they did. Steve saw his target. Tony hadn't exactly been quiet about his pet project. Ever since the Tesseract had been kept in its rightful place in Asgard, Tony had been trying fruitlessly to recreate the cosmic cube. He'd failed countless times, until now. Now, the glowing orb burned bright, so much so that Steve had to wear the mandatory goggles, lest his retinas were burned out from his head.  
He inched closer and closer to the sphere. He had had thousands of missions over the years, but for the first time, this was one that he'd given himself.

1948

Daniel clumsily walked toward the table. Peggy was already there, ready to work. He clutched the papers in his available hand; his other hand steadied his crutch. His gait wasn't for lack of ability. Rather, he was nervous, more nervous than he'd ever felt before. "This is ludicrous" he thought, "she'll say yes. We've all but said as much. She knows I want this. She wants this. It's what we want" he found himself repeating the thoughts, sounding redundant, even in his own psyche.  
"Come along, Daniel" she sighed, but smiled, "Let's finish this so we can spend some of today with each other"  
"Right, right, you know why I asked you here?"  
"To finish off this paperwork" she exhaled, "Honestly, I don't know why you couldn't have just brought it to the agency" she referred to the Auerbach Theatrical Agency, the cover for the SSR headquarters in Los Angeles  
"I'd rather – it would be better to do it here" he smiled  
"Really, at Howard Stark's mansion, this is your idea of a place to handle important casework?" she stared at him incredulously  
"Something like that" he sighed  
Daniel sat down, and placed the papers in front of her  
"Everything looks fine" she glanced at the sheaf, "Things seem to be in order"  
"You, uh, might want to read it through, just to be sure"  
"Honestly Daniel, I think I can manage a little paperwork" she gave him a sidelong glance and pursed her lips  
Daniel's coat pocket seemed to be on fire as he sat there. He kept staring at it as she read the papers.  
"This last page, it's not related to this document" she looked up from the paperwork to him  
"Did you read it?"  
"Did I—it has absolutely nothing to do with—" she stopped in mid-sentence as she looked back at the final page  
"You" he hesitated, "you need to sign, right there, next to my name"  
"Mr. Daniel Sousa" she read, "Mrs. Peggy Sousa, nee Carter" her mouth opened to say something else, but no words emerged  
"Are you alright?" Daniel felt scared. Perhaps he'd gone too far. Perhaps he'd ended up turning himself into a masher.  
She turned to him, "Yes" she smiled broadly  
"Yes you're alright?"  
"Oh of course that" she beamed, "and yes, absolutely"  
"I didn't even ask the question"  
"Would it make you feel better to do that?"  
"I had a ring and-"  
"Oh for goodness sakes', let me see it" the excitement was obvious in her voice  
Before Daniel could dig the ring from his pocket, Angie burst into the room  
"Well, what happened?" she looked at Daniel, then at Peggy, "did you say yes?"  
"Of course I said yes, Angie" Peggy stared at her best friend, "Honestly, why does everyone seem to think that I'd say something else entirely"

2018

The sphere, as it was, didn't sit alone on a work table. No, that would've been far too simple. No, leave it to Tony to make things difficult. The sphere was actually held by what looked like a colander. Steve stared dumbly at the myriad of switches and buttons on the lighted keypad. The console was attached to the table, part of it, and perhaps it was a locking mechanism, in part, to hold the sphere steady, keep it safe from prying hands. Of course, prying hands meant HYDRA, not a SHIELD operative, and certainly never intended to stop Captain America.

1948

The engagement dinner had been splendid, but everyone decided that it was better not to tempt fate, and the viewing of Kiss Me, Kate, would have to be deferred until another time. There had been far too many festivities at the dinner itself. Daniel had raised a toast to his fiancé, and Peggy, for once, had, as her brother had once insisted, "slugged it back". Whereas the last time she'd been engaged, Fred had been mortified or embarrassed, Daniel, was in turn impressed.  
Finally home, Peggy gratefully slipped under the covers. Daniel and she still weren't living together. Despite how forward and modern she was, it was still only the late '40s and an unmarried couple living together before marriage would've been scandalous. The last thing she needed was more scandal in her life. A spy must be inconspicuous.

2018

Steve wanted Peggy. He needed her. The lighted keys and buttons only frustrated and angered him. The normally composed man did something he rarely had. He lost his temper. In anger, he slammed a fist down on the keypad. The sphere began spinning, slowly at first, then faster, and faster, speeding up until it was no more than a blindingly white whirl. A beam shot from the sphere, up, into the ceiling and Steve could see nothing more when a white hot flash of light threw him back.

1948

Peggy slept fitfully at first, but soon found herself nestled in a dream. She stood on a sidewalk corner, waiting for someone to pick her up.  
"He'll be here soon" she smiled.  
Suddenly, a car swerved toward her, the headlights blinding her  
She blinked her eyes, hoping she'd be awake.  
She was awake, but she was no longer in her bedroom.  
Steve Rogers, in the strangest outfit, stared at her.  
She looked around. The room was stark, gun metal gray, almost like a hospital, but darker  
"Oh Steve" she uttered. This was more than she could handle.  
Then she fainted at his feet.

2018

"You did what?" Tony exploded  
"Don't take that tone with me" Steve countered  
"Tone? You screwed with the space time continuum and you're worried about tone?" Tony roared  
"Didn't you have anyone you ever loved" Steve smirked, "Someone you'd do anything to have back in your life"  
"Yes" Tony glared at him, "My parents" he spat out, "or did you forget Howard and Maria Stark?"  
Steve clamped his mouth shut. There was no use saying anything else.  
"You got your wish" Tony glanced over to her, passed out on the sofa, "lucky you"

Peggy slept in Avengers headquarters, nestled on a couch in Steve's room. It was the first place he'd had a chance to give her some rest. The bed felt intimate, but completely wrong, and he didn't trust himself. He'd covered her with a blanket, and used a throw pillow to cushion her head. Her hair, straighter now, perhaps from sleep, made her look modern. "How easy it would be for us to live here, together, the way it was meant to be" he thought quietly. He sat at his desk, the compass lay closed on the tabletop, and he sighed, staring at the love of his life.

Tony walked in. Steve still sat there, staring at her. He looked up at his friend.  
"Come with me" Tony beckoned him with a finger  
"But – she's"  
"She'll be fine" Tony seemed to know that for sure.  
Once they were outside the room. Tony turned on Steve, "What the hell is wrong with you?"  
"I wanted something in life, for myself, for once"  
"Great, but do you realize what you've done?"  
"Yeah, I've managed something that even you couldn't do" Steve spat out  
"She's not going to think that" Tony countered, "You've been here long enough, years even. You've had time to process things here; you've made a life for yourself"  
"She can do that, too" he proffered  
"She didn't make that choice- you did"  
"I didn't make the choice to come here either"  
"I know, but she didn't choose that for you; none of us did. Call it happenstance"  
"Big words for a drunk" he shot back. Tony was his friend, but Steve was tired of being lectured.  
"God, do I have to explain this to you with that movie again?"  
"What are you talking about?"  
Tony didn't respond. He instead dug his phone out of his pocket, punched a few icons and a scene from a film played:  
A white haired man drew on a chalkboard.  
"Obviously the time continuum has been disrupted, creating a new temporal event sequence resulting in this alternate reality"  
A teenage boy, actually, another man, retorted, "English, Doc!"  
The white haired man continued, "Here. Here, let me demonstrate. Let's say that this line represents time" he drew a line on a chalkboard, "Here's the present 1985, the future and the past. Obviously, somewhere in the past the timeline skewed down into this tangent-" he drew an offshoot from the first line, like a branch of a tree, "creating an alternate 1985; alternate to you, me, and Einstein, but reality for everyone else."  
Tony shut the screen on his phone, "Do you understand now?"  
"I drew a line on a chalkboard?"  
"You disturbed history!" Tony bellowed, "You disturbed reality!" He stood there, seething. With nothing more to say, he spun on his heels and stormed off, leaving Steve standing outside the door to his own room.

Steve walked back in the room. Peggy stirred in her sleep. He smiled  
Peggy mumbled, "Drnll" she smiled while dreaming  
Steve knelt down. His face was next to hers, "I couldn't leave my best girl"  
She opened her eyes, "Steve" she uttered lazily. Her eyes snapped open, "Steve!" she repeated, louder now, with far more realization. She sat bolt upright, and glanced around her at the plate glass windows, the cityscape outside, and her surroundings, Steve's room.  
Her breathing quickened, "What's happening?"  
"I—I brought you here" he grinned  
"You- you've been dead"  
"Surprise" he raised his eyebrows  
She stared at him; her eyes narrowed. "Steve, what is going on?"  
"You're in, well I guess, the future" he glanced at the window, then back at her, "It's 2018"  
"Twenty—no, you've only been gone for two years"  
"Hey, another seventy years, what do you know?" he chuckled at his own joke  
She glared at him. This wasn't funny to her  
"Look, I know you're concerned, and you've probably got a hundred questions right now"  
"How long has it been" she started, "for you? How long have you been here?"  
"Around seven years"  
Peggy made an acknowledgement sound. Her eyes flitted to a photograph of Sharon Carter that stood on Steve's desk  
Steve saw this. He looked uneasy.  
She didn't mention the photo  
A beat passed  
"Seven years" she exploded. Peggy stared at him, livid, "You've lived your life!" her words shot out, "I haven't!"  
Steve look dumbstruck, "I-" he faltered  
"I heard you" she shot him a look, "and Howard's son"  
"Tony" he supplied  
"Yes, Tony" she snapped  
It hit Steve at once. Everything he'd done, it all had repercussions.  
"You" he began, softer now, "you don't remember Tony" he looked sadly at her, "do you?"  
"No, why? He's – he's a grown man. What do you expect me to remember?" she waved a hand in where she thought his general direction might be  
"No bedtime stories, no stories – well, about me"  
"Steve" she sighed, "you were dead. What did you think I would do?"  
Steve's mind flashed to anecdotes that Tony had accidentally let loose after a night of Scotch; or champagne at a party, "She'd tell me all about you" Tony had grinned lazily, "Captain America, the love of her life"  
"Really?" Steve had smiled at that  
"Well, I was eight, and completely enthralled" Tony had laughed  
Steve looked at Peggy. There was something else that Tony had mentioned. Perhaps it was a good time to bring it up now.  
"Tell me about him" he sighed  
"What, Captain America?" Peggy had calmed down, but was still quite upset, given the circumstances  
"No" he swallowed, "Daniel, your husband"  
"My—oh God, Daniel" she realized  
"What, is he ok?"  
"Steve, he had asked me to marry him tonight" she stopped, "tonight- seventy years ago" she sighed. Not exactly seventy years ago tonight, but she meant that that much time had passed  
"I can't let this happen" Steve braced himself, "I wanted you, to be with you, to have you here so badly, and yet, I can't take everything away from you"  
"I can't say that you're not" she stepped closer to him, "but I do understand how you feel"  
"Is he" Steve ventured, "is he the love of your life?"  
"He reminded me of you" she smiled for the first time since they'd been together, in the same room  
"Really?" he grinned  
"Oh God no, not like this" she waved a hand in front of him, gesturing to his physique, "You, inside, the—" she faltered, trying to find words  
"The hundred ten pound guy who was given 4F five times" he looked at her, and yet, not at her, at a memory in his mind  
"Yes" she nodded, not out of sadness, but out of a shared memory, "You leapt on that grenade"  
"I didn't know it was a dud"  
"I was going to stop it myself, but you beat me to it"  
"I never knew that" he realized aloud  
"A lot of people didn't" she glanced off for a moment, "perhaps nobody knew it but me"  
"Phillips saw you, probably" Steve's mouth turned up at the corners, "and Erskine"  
There were a few moments of silence, beats between them. Finally Steve opened his mouth, "He told me something"  
Peggy looked at him for more information  
"Erskine. He told me to be who I was, remain this way"  
Peggy stared at him incredulously  
"Not like this" he went on, "before, before the treatment" there was a beat, "He said, remain as you are, not a perfect soldier, but as a good man"  
Peggy smiled, the way she'd looked when he'd been Skinny Steve and jumped onto a grenade to save her and other trainees, "you are"  
That was all that was needed to be said  
Steve mustered his resolve, "If that's true" he straightened up, "if I'm a good man, then I've got to do the right thing" he took her hand, "come on, we're taking you home"  
He started to guide her to the lab. She dropped his hand, "I can walk with you. I don't need to be handheld like a child" she frowned  
"Right" he nodded.  
They walked to the lab. Vision was already there, dressed in civilian clothes  
"Hello, Ms. Carter" he greeted her  
Peggy stared. She was reminded of—she didn't want to say it—the thought was too strange  
"Vision, I need to get into the lab" Steve addressed him  
"Mr. Stark has asked that only Dr. Banner and himself be admitted to the lab"  
"It's an emergency"  
"Emergency protocols state that –"  
"This is Peggy Carter. Don't you think she qualifies?"  
"Indeed" Vision let them enter  
Steve and Peggy had barely reached the console when Bruce Banner ran into the lab. Tony Stark followed him and pushed Vision aside. Bruce shouted at Steve, "What are you trying to do now?"  
"Tony told me that I made a mistake" Steve turned around, "I'm trying to fix that"  
"By messing around with technology that you don't understand?" Tony quipped  
"By trying to do what's right" Steve was serious  
"Fine" Bruce said at last, "But this may take some time"  
"Great" Steve smiled, "I can show her around, get her acquainted with things-"  
"No" Bruce warned, "Under no circumstances is she to leave here. She must not see anybody or talk to anybody. Anything you do could have serious repercussions on future"  
"Since when did you care about anything like that" Steve looked at Tony  
"I don't, but this is my aunt you're talking about"  
"Shut up" Bruce warned, "everybody just shut up. You're all doing it already, changing the future just by saying things in front of her"  
"Her?" Steve raised an eyebrow, "This is the love of my life you're talking about"  
"She made my childhood bearable since it was a living hell otherwise" Tony chimed in  
The men continued arguing, Tony and Steve citing Peggy's good points while Bruce was doing his best to stay calm and not cause a temporal paradox just by them all talking about Peggy while in front of her, conveniently forgetting that they were still in full seeing and hearing distance of her.  
"Excuse me" Peggy interjected. The men kept on arguing.  
She put her fingers to her mouth and shrilly whistled.  
Everyone stopped, including Vision, who hadn't said anything yet.  
"It seems that Captain Rogers here" she took a professional tone, perhaps out of anger or resentment, perhaps to keep things professional, "has toyed with the very fabric of time" she went on, "If Mr. Stark here and –" she paused  
"Dr. Bruce Banner" he smiled  
"Dr. Banner here, and" she stared quizzically at Vision  
"Vision, Ma'am"  
"Yes" she nodded, "You seem to know what you're doing. I gather from your extremely animated conversation that you'd rather I stay put, out of harm's way as it were"  
The three men, Steve, Tony and Bruce, looked at each other uneasily.  
"I'm sorry but that's not happening" she turned to Bruce, "you seem like nice fellow. Perhaps you can help me understand how this fabric ripping happened"  
"Ok" Bruce shrugged, "there was a cube called the Tesseract. It"  
"I know about the Tesseract" she interjected  
"Then you know what it can do"  
"I also know that it was lost at the bottom of the ocean"  
"Among other things" Tony quipped  
"It was later found" Bruce continued as if Tony hadn't said anything, "but now it's where it should be"  
"And this glowing football is it?" she motioned to the orb

"No" Tony chimed in and shook his head, "it's a synthetic version. You see, we had a big fight with Loki, and then Thor came in and-"  
"Ixnay" Bruce warned  
"We'll get into that later" Tony continued, "we were working on making our own"  
"So you could have unlimited energy?" Peggy stared at him, "Good lord, you're as bad as HYDRA"  
"We don't really like think that" Tony hesitated, "but, sure, you could say that" he looked at Bruce and Steve, "Ok fine, it's good to have her back"  
"Thank you" she smiled, "but I cannot stay. As frivolous as it sounds, I have a wedding to plan"  
Steve looked at his boots  
"Dr. Banner, and Mr. Stark, perhaps you could show me your information on this creation. Surely you must have notebooks filled about this—science experiment"  
"Sure" Tony grinned, "Bruce, you show her the notes, I'll be with you in a minute"  
Bruce took Peggy over to a computer monitor to go over the information they'd compiled on the Tesseract, while Tony pulled Steve aside,  
"What's going on?" he looked at his blond friend  
"Nothing"  
"Don't give me that" Tony snapped, "Why now? What is so important about now?"  
"It was a year yesterday"  
"You act like you're the only guy to ever break up with a girl"  
"She broke up with me"  
"I'm not surprised" he leaned against the wall they were standing next to, "You know why you were with her, right?"  
"I—what?" Steve frowned  
"Come on, I know how you felt about aunt Peggy"  
"Don't call her that"  
"And apparently you still feel like that- great, I'll call up Jerry Springer"  
There was a beat of silence  
"She asked me if I was with her only because of Peggy"  
Another beat of silence  
"Well?" Tony furrowed his eyebrows  
"I don't know" Steve stared into the distance, "First she was Sharon, a nurse, then Agent 13, then Peggy's niece, I don't know, everything happened in pieces, and yeah, I was attracted to her"  
Tony listened  
"Maybe- Maybe I was with her just because – I don't know"  
"It's not like you called out someone else's name when you were with her"  
Steve stared angrily at his friend  
"Oh God, you didn't"  
"Come on" Steve stepped forward, "Let's see how they're doing"

Peggy was bored by the computer program  
"You can calculate the algorithms for this device" she meant the Tesseract, "by using this tiny little machine?" she motioned towards the laptop  
"Sure" Bruce shrugged, "I shouldn't really be showing you all this, but you do have to see the notes"  
Peggy didn't respond. She was mentally processing the consequences and impact of her being here, as it was.  
"And you researched it using a – network of libraries, was it?"  
"The internet" Bruce, "It's a way that computers hold information on different servers, um, libraries, I guess, and it's networked through wireless - um"  
"Cute" she smiled in response  
"Aunt Peggy" Tony came up beside her  
Peggy looked at him quizzically. In her timeline, she obviously hadn't become anyone's aunt, yet.  
"Tell me more about this created form of the Tesseract" she looked at Howard's son  
"Well, Its' one of these stones, gems really, and um" Tony stumbled over the words  
"Maybe that liquid lunch wasn't such a good idea" Bruce nudged him in the shoulder  
"Vision" Tony beckoned him, "Tell Peggy about the Tesseract"  
"Ma'am" Vision greeted her, "The Tesseract was known as one of the Infinity Gems. Six gems, each of finite yet incredible power. They are known as the soul, mind, power, time, space and reality. Each has its own set of powers. The soul, for example, can examine, cleanse or steal the souls of others. The power gem can used to make people stronger. The mind gem allows greater access to the Astral Plane, the dimension of the mind, and increases any mental abilities, exponentially. The time gem can be used to travel through time. The space gem can take one anywhere in the universe; finally, the reality gem can do what the user wishes it shall do"  
"Obviously, we'd like to be able to build one of the last ones, the reality gem" Tony put in, "now that would be pretty sweet"  
"I imagine it would be rather delectable" Peggy agreed, "but aren't there some dangers that you're forgetting"  
"Leave it to her to nail that one on the head" Bruce laughed  
"It may be the only way to get you home" Vision brought up  
"Then I suppose we must work on this solution" Peggy squared her shoulders, "by the way, where did you acquire such information?"  
"You don't have to tell her that" Tony put out a hand  
"It was uploaded into the neural network by Dr. Jane Foster"  
"Tattletale" Tony stuck out his tongue

Everyone, including Steve, worked to replay the events that brought Peggy here, and thus, reverse engineer the process in hopes of her being sent back to her proper time. Thor, though desiring to be helpful, could not bring the actual Tesseract back from Asgard. Natasha, for her part, gave input where she could be helpful. Hours passed without much else being done. Breaks were taken for meals, but the group seemed focused on the task at hand. Regardless of how Steve felt, and the team knew how he must have felt, it was imperative for Peggy to reach her timeline, since the sake of SHIELD depended on it.

During a break, Natasha came over to Peggy, "Mind a chat?" she sat down next to her on the floor. The women leaned against a wall, their legs bent, "You saw it" Natasha didn't bother with niceties, "the Red Room"  
Peggy looked at her blankly  
"Where they were housed, trained to be assassins, the girls" her eyes spoke volumes  
"The girls" Peggy echoed, knowing what Natasha meant, "one of them stabbed my friend, Dugan" she left off the nickname purposely. It would've sounded ludicrous in the conversation  
"They were doing what they'd been trained to do"  
"Yes" Peggy nodded, "How did you break away?"  
Natasha opened her mouth, but was silent. After a beat, she finally replied, "Bruce is concerned that knowing too much about the future could have dire consequences" she explained, 'and to be honest, I can understand that"  
"As can I" Peggy agreed, "but you must've been horribly brave to be able to escape"  
"Let's say that I was lucky. I have a very specific skill set. I didn't care who I used it for, or on. I got on SHIELD.'s radar in a bad way. Agent Barton was sent to kill me, he made a different call."  
"He let you escape"  
"He got me recruited into SHIELD"  
Peggy sighed, "I know someone like that, someone who could help the—the SSR quite a bit, perhaps as much as I can, if she only would"  
"She sounds like someone I can relate to"  
"Only time will tell if she's as trustworthy as you have been"

The sun rose with the hope of promise  
"Let's see if we can do this" Tony looked back from his place in front of the console. With the goggles perched on his head, Peggy stared at him. He really did look like Howard, inside. They had the same look in their eyes.  
She walked to the newly constructed platform, "Shall we have a go, then?"  
Other members of the team stood around, hoping for the best. One was sorely missing  
"Steve?" she looked around  
"Hold on" Natasha raced from the room.

"What is wrong with you?" Natasha looked at her friend  
Steve sat on the desk chair, staring at the open compass, next to the framed photograph of Sharon  
"I can't do it. I can't say goodbye again"  
"Be glad that you have a chance to say whatever needs to be said this time" she placed her hand on his shoulder, "not everyone gets that opportunity"  
Steve shrugged her hand off. There was no talking to him. Natasha sighed and left the room to join the others.

"Are we ready?" Tony called out from the console  
"Stop everything!" Steve ran down the hallway, nearly barreled over Vision to get into the lab  
"Damn it, Rogers, " Tony sighed, "You got to work on your timing"  
"Language" Steve shot him a look  
Tony just laughed  
Steve leapt up to the platform. It wasn't even a foot off the ground.  
He held back a moment, and simply stared at her.  
She stared right back. They knew that had only this moment.  
"I'm not good at saying things like this" he began.  
She stopped him, with her index finger on his lips. His eyes waver, and he found himself looking not at her, but at his shoes.  
She took his hand. He looked up at her, in her eyes. God, she was beautiful.  
Peggy placed his own hand over his heart, "No matter" she stared insistently at him, "the war, no matter the time, no matter" she broke off and squeezed his hand, still over his heart, "the partner. I'm right here. Forever"  
She smiled at him and it was evident how she felt. Anguish, sadness, all mixed in with hope, and especially love.  
He looked at her, and nodded.  
They had to let go of each other's hands. He stepped back down onto the lab floor. It was the hardest thing he'd ever had to do.  
There was a flash of light.  
Then, she was gone.

1948

"Peggy!" a man shouted. There was a series of sequential knocks, loud, and then the man yelled her name again.  
Peggy opened her eyes. She was on the floor in her flat. She looked around. Had she fallen off the bed? No. She had a distinct memory of seeing Steve again, and – what was his name, Howard's son; and another red colored fellow who sounded an awful lot like Mr. Jarvis  
"Peggy!" the voice was Daniel's  
"Daniel" Peggy got up from the floor and headed to open the door. She saw him standing before her, one arm plugged into his crutch, the other midair in the midst of readying to knock on the door again  
"Thank God you're ok" he looked quite concerned. His hand came down and he rather suddenly pulled her into a hug  
"Th-thank you, Daniel" she was surprised  
He pulled away and looked at her, "You didn't answer the phone, I called several times, and then you weren't answering the door, and – I thought the worst"  
"Perhaps I had a little much to drink" Peggy tilted her head slightly and smiled at her fiancé  
"Not from what Howard's told me" he grinned  
"I seem to have had the strangest dream" she took his hand and pulled him into the apartment, "I'll tell you about it, what I can remember, that is"

2018

Steve knelt at the gravesite. He stared at the headstone,  
Margaret Elizabeth Carter. 1921 – 2016  
Loving mother. Wife. Leader.  
He sighed. She was gone.  
"God, I miss you so much, Peggy" Steve sighed. Tears fell from his eyes. He didn't even try to wipe them away. What was the point? Nobody would see him there today.  
"I miss her too" a familiar British lilt came to his ears. He stood and turned around.  
"Shall we go?"  
It was her.  
Peggy stood there, a navy pea coat, dark boots; her hair straighter now, wavy; without the curls.  
She looked perfect. He beamed.  
She took his hand, "I've missed you, too"


End file.
